243: Chapter 243 Humanity's Ultimate Trump Card: The Core of a Level 5 Civilization Appears!

Genesis, rest cabin.

Su Che sat on the edge of the bed, legs spread apart, supporting his weight, his whole body hunched over.

The system's words just now were like a piece of red-hot iron pressed against the back of his head.

Noah, a Level 4 Civilization.

The existence that would wipe out humanity in one hundred thousand years.

"Explain yourself clearly."

He asked in a low voice within the space of his consciousness.

"What do you mean by 'detecting an anomaly in the timeline'? Did it guess, or did it lock onto it?"

[Currently, this is only a speculative warning from the system. No quantifiable monitoring signals have appeared yet.]

The system's words floated out line by line.

[But you must understand a premise: a Level 4 Civilization's precision in perceiving spacetime fluctuations far exceeds that of a Level 3 Civilization by several orders of magnitude.]

[The trajectory of the current timeline's evolution has already deviated severely. The greater the deviation, the higher the probability of being captured.]

"So everything we're doing now is accelerating our exposure?"

[Yes!]

Su Che didn't speak.

After a long time, he asked that question.

"Can we win?"

[No.]

The system had never answered a question so bluntly.

[Host, humanity in the original timeline was essentially at the peak of a Level 3 Civilization, just one step away from a Level 4 Civilization. However, those four words, 'just one step away,' represent an entirely different set of physical rules on a cosmic scale.]

[What a Level 4 Civilization masters is the ability to interfere with high-dimensional spacetime. No matter how developed a Level 3 Civilization is, it cannot resist high-dimensional strikes within the rules of the same dimension.]

[The Kairos Civilization stagnated for tens of thousands of years not because they were stupid, but because that barrier itself does not belong to the category that Level 3 rules can touch.]

Su Che gritted his teeth.

"Then what were you telling me about leading humanity to break through to level 4..."

[I wasn't lying to you.] The system interrupted him. [There are conditions.]

"What conditions?"

[Find the core of a Level 5 Civilization.]

"What is that?"

[The reason humanity in the original timeline could rapidly reach the peak of a Level 3 Civilization from 0.7 within one hundred thousand years, just one step away from level 4, is not because humans were smarter than Kairos, and the help from Kairos was only superficial.]

[The true core driving force was the birth of a Child of Destiny in the original timeline, who was bound to a core of a Level 5 Civilization from a parallel universe.]

[Humanity's leap-style development relied entirely on the power of that core.]

Su Che's breathing stalled for half a second.

"Wait." He interrupted, "Then why was humanity in the original timeline still wiped out? Can't a Level 5 beat a level 4?"

[Do you know why humanity in the original timeline conducted such frantic interstellar expansion?]

Su Che didn't answer, waiting for the system to continue.

[The Level 5 core came from another universe. After crossing dimensional leaps, it was in a state of long-term energy deficit. Its high-order functions were sealed, and it could only release limited support. It needed to absorb massive amounts of galactic resources and energy to complete charging and unsealing.]

[To accelerate this process, humanity plundered resources on a large scale and expanded its star territory, eventually directly intruding into the core interest zone of the Noah civilization.]

"So it was humanity's own doing?"

[Half right, the other half is the time difference.]

The system unfolded the logic.

[After the core is fully charged, it will enter the final stage of full database calculation, adaptation to this universe's physical rules, and reconstruction of the complete permission link.]

[In this phase, it must shut down all external interfaces and devote all computing power to underlying adaptation, making it completely unable to interfere with the outside world.]

[The Noah civilization precisely chose this offline window to launch an extinction strike.]

[By the time the core completed adaptation and restored all functions, the main body of human civilization had been completely destroyed.]

Su Che digested this information in his mind.

"Even if it wasn't a window period, can one core withstand the full-force siege of an entire Level 4 Civilization?"

[No. The core of a Level 5 Civilization is essentially a technical carrier and a spark of civilization, not the complete entity of a Level 5 Civilization. A single core cannot withstand a full-force crackdown from Noah.]

He leaned back against the cabin wall, hands resting on his knees.

"Then what's the point of finding it? Wouldn't finding it just lead to repeating the same mistakes?"

[It's different.]

The system changed the rhythm of its text, listing them one by one.

[First, causal shielding. The Level 5 core can shield causal chains at the underlying level of this universe, completely erasing the timeline fluctuations and technological development trajectory of human civilization from Noah's global monitoring network, avoiding the risk of being locked onto from the root.]

[Second, development acceleration. The original timeline core had long-term energy deficits and limited support. Now it has completed full charging, no need to divert resources for refilling, and can output at full power, significantly compressing the civilization upgrade cycle.]

[Third, breaking the level 4 barrier. No matter how peak a Level 3 Civilization develops, it is extremely difficult to break the level 4 barrier on its own. The Level 5 core is the only shortcut to a breakthrough.]

Su Che was silent for a long time.

"Where is it now?"

[After humanity was wiped out, the core, having just completed adaptation, was unable to resist Noah's crackdown and actively retreated into an independent spacetime vesicle it had created to hibernate deeply.]

[The vesicle is embedded in the gaps of the underlying rules of this universe, unaffected by timeline branches, with no energy signal leakage, so Noah cannot detect it.]

"How do I find it?"

[The Level 3 spark core in your hand is the exclusive key to establishing a matching link with the Level 5 core.]

The system paused for a beat.

[But the Level 5 core personally experienced the destruction of its own civilization and humanity, and it will absolutely not bind to a host casually.]

[It will use this system as a medium to passively perceive the host's will, pattern, civilization-bearing capacity, and cognitive understanding of rules through the underlying rules of the vesicle. Only when it confirms that the host will not repeat the mistakes of reckless advancement will it release a guidance signal.]

Su Che tilted his head up, staring at the silver-gray ceiling above.

"So in the end, it still depends on me being capable enough."

[Yes. The foundation of civilization's survival always lies within itself. The Level 5 core is a trump card, not a panacea.]

[For now, you still need to rely on this system to steadily solidify the foundation while completing your own ability iteration to reach the recognition standard of the Level 5 core.]

Su Che closed his eyes, stringing together everything the system said.

A Level 4 Civilization might have already detected an anomaly.

Before finding the Level 5 core, humanity remains exposed within Noah's perception range.

The only path to finding it is the system bound to him plus his own qualifications.

This is a race against time and fate.

"One more thing." He opened his eyes. "Do you know the specific origin of the Level 5 Civilization core?"

[It is also an exiled spark, from a Level 5 peak perfect civilization in another universe. That civilization touched the multiverse forbidden zone defined by a level 6 civilization and was completely wiped out. Only this core, carrying the complete spark, fled across the universe to here.]

Level 6 destroys Level 5, level 4 destroys Level 3.

"This Dark Forest law, from beginning to end, is every layer being executed?"

[Yes. There are no exceptions, and no tier can escape.]

Su Che turned this sentence over in his mind several times, then slowly let out a breath.

"Fine."

He stood up from the edge of the bed.

"Do the things in front of me one by one. First, open the door of Genesis, thicken the foundation of Earth, build Su Family Village, and upgrade the fleet."

"At the same time, I must be worthy of that thing."

[Is this your summary for tonight?]

"Summary my ass." Su Che stretched his stiff neck. "This is the marching route."

He lay back down and stared at the ceiling for a while.

The world is big, but nothing is bigger than sleep.

Su Che turned over and fell into a deep sleep.

...

The next morning.

Genesis, Area A hall.

One hundred Earth scientists were all present, sitting on the circular steps, men and women, young and old, of different skin colors.

Su Che stood in the center, holding a list in his hand.

"Formal work starts today." He began. "One hundred people, divided into five groups, twenty people per group."

He announced the grouping list without asking for opinions.

"Leader of Group 1, Ye Zhiqiu."

In the third row on the left, a gentle-looking female scientist stood up.

Thirty-five years old, a postdoctoral fellow at the Longguo Academy of Sciences, the youngest one present.

"Leader of Group 2, Su Wanxing."

"Leader of Group 3, Friedman."

"Leader of Group 4, Patrick."

"Leader of Group 5." Su Che looked toward the last row. "Academician Zhong."

The silver-haired old man stood up, his spirit twice as good as when he boarded the ship yesterday.

"Group 1 is responsible for the unlocking work of the mother ship's third door. The other four groups will first learn the basic knowledge system of a Level 3 Civilization from the Kairos experts."

Su Che scanned everyone.

"There is one rule, remember it well: when dealing with Kairos people, only learn knowledge and only discuss academics."

"Other than that, don't utter a single word. If they ask you, say you don't know. If they press you, say confidentiality regulations do not allow it."

No one raised an objection.

Su Che waved his hand to dismiss the main group, but called three people to stay behind.

"Liu Nanshan, Chen Junhong, Lillian Brown."

The three medical experts, Liu Nanshan, Chen Junhong, and Lillian Brown, stayed behind and stood in a row.

"Behind the second door of Genesis, there is a basic medical cabin."

Su Che didn't make them wait and cut straight to the point.

"A product of a Level 3 Civilization. It can do everything: complete limb regeneration, genetic defect correction, cure for hereditary terminal illnesses, and resuscitation within eight minutes of brain death."

The three kept their mouths shut and concentrated.

This information density was too high; they needed a few seconds to process.

Su Che gave them those few seconds, then continued, "But these are not the main point of calling you here today."

He pulled over a chair and sat down, elbows resting on his knees.

"The medical cabin has one function: body anti-aging and life extension. It is safe, stable, and can extend human biological lifespan to three hundred years."

Liu Nanshan rubbed his sleeve.

Chen Junhong looked down at the tips of his shoes, then looked up again.

Lillian Brown rolled the notebook in her hand into a tube.

Three hundred years.

This was not a data model labeled "theoretically feasible" in a lab, nor was it a bolded hypothesis premise in a thesis.

It was a fact stated by a living person standing right in front of them in a declarative sentence.

Liu Nanshan's throat moved, and he squeezed out a bit of Longguo-style understatement, "Chief Engineer Su... how 'safe and stable' is this?"

"Standard factory configuration for a Level 3 Civilization, mass-produced civilian technology." Su Che answered casually. "To Kairos, this is about the same as you going to a community clinic to check your blood pressure."

Lillian Brown unrolled the tube-shaped notebook and rolled it up again, repeating this three or four times.

"Mr. Su." She spoke, English mixed with Chinese, "You mean... a three-hundred-year lifespan is the baseline? Not the upper limit?"

"Starting price." Su Che held up a finger. "Unlocking more doors later might push it higher, but for now, let's say three hundred."

Chen Junhong hadn't spoken, but at this moment, he leaned forward a step.

"Chief Engineer Su, how do we do it? What do we need to do?"

Su Che stood up.

"The three of you, take the initiative to find the Kairos experts. Let them take you into the medical cabin area. Learn everything from operating logic to underlying medical principles, bit by bit."

"Learn until you can operate it independently, can teach others to operate it, and can produce a complete set of usage specifications for me."

"Time is short, do it as soon as possible."

He looked around at the three of them.

"Those who follow me will all have the chance to enter this cabin in the future."

Liu Nanshan took a breath and didn't let it out.

He had lived for more than sixty years and been a doctor for forty years; he had never imagined that one day he would learn a technology that could save a dead person.

Chen Junhong turned and walked away, only remembering he hadn't said goodbye when he reached the door.

Lillian Brown slapped the notebook into her palm and followed.

Liu Nanshan was the last to leave; he stopped at the door and turned back.

"Chief Engineer Su, from now on, this old life of mine is in your hands."

After saying this, he walked out with large strides.